Tag Archives: Cap Tourmente National Wildlife Area (VE-0012)

Field Reports, Morse Code, News, Portable, POTA, QRP, Travel, Videos

Short on Time, Yet Loads of Fun: Gusty QRP POTA at Cap Tourmente!

1 Comment

On Sunday, June 22, we spent the day in Québec City enjoying a local farmer’s market, visiting a café, catching up with friends, and taking a long walk in the woods. Somehow, we managed to return to our condo in St-Ferréol-les-Neiges, Québec, by 3:30 in the afternoon.

My wife and daughters decided to spend some quality time reading and doing art—and frankly, I was tempted to do the same. A friend had recently prompted me to dive into the world of Three Pines, so I was working on Louise Penny’s first book, Still Life [yes, QRPer affiliate link].

But then I looked outside, checked the time, and realized I just might have enough daylight to squeeze in a quick POTA activation! My only viable site nearby was Cap Tourmente, just a short 15-minute drive from the condo.

However, Cap Tourmente closes at 5:00 PM, and with propagation having been so poor lately, I knew I had to make haste.

Cap Tourmente Réserve Nationale de Faune (CA-0012)

In my last activation video at Cap Tourmente, I mentioned that park entry would be free under the Canada Strong Pass program. Unfortunately, I was mistaken—national wildlife refuges are not included in that program; it’s geared more toward national parks and historic sites.

No worries—I was still happy to pay the entry fee as I typically drop a donation at parks I frequent anyway.

By the time I reached the park entrance, it was about 3:45 PM. That left me just over an hour to deploy gear, hop on the air, and complete an activation.

It was a blustery Sunday afternoon. Looking out over the St. Lawrence River, I saw nothing but white caps. The upside to all that wind? Fewer mosquitoes!

I pulled into the same large parking area where I’d activated the previous day. I backed up to a tree line, which offered some wind protection and a natural spot to deploy my antenna.

For this activation, I wanted some frequency agility, so I opted to deploy my Tufteln end-fed random wire (EFRW) with a 31’ radiator and 17’ counterpoise.

I backed my car toward the sun so that the open hatch would provide some welcome shade. I then set up my Moonlander table and Helinox Chair Zero for a comfy operating position.

With everything deployed, it was time to get on the air!

Gear

Note: All Amazon and eBay links are affiliate links that support QRPer.com at no cost to you.

Radio

Key

Antenna/Throw Line

Pack/Case

Logging Pad/Pencil

Chair/Table

Camera/Audio Gear

On The Air

I started calling CQ POTA on 20 meters, hoping I could log at least ten stations in the ~40 minutes I had left before packing up. Continue reading Short on Time, Yet Loads of Fun: Gusty QRP POTA at Cap Tourmente! →

Field Reports, Morse Code, News, POTA, QRP, Travel, Videos

Portable Radio Perseverance at Réserve nationale de faune du Cap-Tourmente

8 Comments

I woke up on the morning of June 19, 2025, expecting to see rain when I opened the door to our balcony at the condo in St-Ferréol-les-Neiges, Québec.

Instead, it was a bit overcast, but quite dry. I checked my weather app and saw that the forecast had pushed the rain—which I expected to begin around 6:00—to 9:00.

The forecast then showed rain throughout the rest of the day and the next. Being the POTA fellow I am, I wanted to squeeze in an activation before nearly two days of wet weather properly moved in.

Fortunately, one of my favorite POTA spots local to our condo is Cap Tourmente National Wildlife Area (Réserve nationale de faune)—a site I’ve activated during our past stays in the area.

I double-checked my field radio backpack, grabbed a bite of breakfast, then hit the road!

Bumps in the road

Photo from August 2022

My plan that morning was to activate CA-0012 from a spot outside of their main grounds in a marshy area with a wildlife viewing blind.

Photo from August 2022

I activated this very spot back in 2022 and loved it—[click here to read that report]—it was peaceful and easy to deploy a wire antenna there. It’s also a couple of minutes closer than the main reserve and I wouldn’t have to pay an admission fee to use it.

In truth, though, my main motivation was knowing that I would be under a heavy canopy of trees, so if it rained, I might get a bit of cover for a while.

I was fully aware, though, that the price I would pay for activating there was going to be mosquitoes. This site is surrounded by marsh areas, and that morning the air was still, warm, and humid. The perfect recipe for mosquitoes.

En route to the site, it dawned on me that I’d left the microSD card for my camera in my laptop back at the condo. As my buddy Vince (VE6LK) says, “Potty mouth made an appearance”—indeed, quite spontaneously!

I knew if I took the time to turn back and fetch the card from the condo, it would likely start raining by the time I set up my station. Then I remembered that I packed my old OSMO camera in my pack as a spare—of course! I could use the spare camera’s SD card. That problem was solved.

I parked my car in the little parking area across from the wildlife viewing area, grabbed my pack, and walked across the road.

The first thing I noticed was that the area under the trees had not been mowed. There was a path to walk, but all around it was tall grass flanked by trees. Did I mention that mosquitoes love tall grass?

I walked into the site and passed a wildlife photographer. He was the only person on-site, and I figured he also knew rain was incoming. I found a spot where I could deploy my antenna with ease and mostly stay off of the path.

Then I made the mistake of looking down at my legs.

Despite the fact I had Permethrin-treated trousers and had even applied a bit of DEET repellent, there was a swarm—likely 50+ mosquitoes—around my legs. There was no way in the world I could cope with that many mosquitoes sitting so close to the ground during my activation.

Time to “pivot,” as folks like to say these days.

I wasn’t going to give up, so I headed to the main park area and paid my entry fee at the gate.

Réserve nationale de faune du Cap-Tourmente (CA-0012)

Since I didn’t want to hunt for a location, I picked one I knew well—again, one I had previously activated [click here to read that report].

The site is basically a large, open parking area close to the front gate and the “petite ferme” portion of the site.

The mosquitoes weren’t bad at all in this open area, so I backed the car up to some trees I could use to support my antenna.

Turns out, I discovered later on, that this particular part of the site is also a twofer with The Trans Canada Trail National Scenic Trail (CA-5082), since the entry to the parkway is actually a part of the trail system.

I was in a bit of a hurry to beat the rain and actually almost forgot to start my video rolling. I made one throw line attempt and wasn’t pleased with the branch I snagged. It was only when I started my second attempt that I realized I’d forgotten to start the camera!

I decided to deploy my MW0SAW homebrew end-fed half-wave, knowing/hoping that either 20 or 40 meters should carry me through the activation.

I set up my Helinox chair and the KX2 on my Tufteln/N0RNM kneeboard.

Gear

Note: All Amazon, CW Morse, ABR, Chelegance, eBay, and Radioddity links are affiliate links that support QRPer.com at no cost to you.

Radio

Antenna & Supports

  • MW0SAW Homebrew 40m EFHW

Cable Assembly

Throw Line and Accessories

Other Field Gear and Accessories

Packs & Cases

Logging Supplies

Camera/Audio Gear

On The Air

I started calling CQ POTA on 20 meters—with my Canadian callsign, VY2SW—and was rewarded with seven hunters logged in about nine minutes. Continue reading Portable Radio Perseverance at Réserve nationale de faune du Cap-Tourmente →

Field Reports, News, Portable, POTA, QRP, Videos

Biplanes, Canoes, Callsigns, and POTA: Looking back on our summer in Canada and final field report from Québec

8 Comments

Our travels in Canada this summer exceeded our expectations.

Looking back

Les Escoumins, Québec (click to enlarge)

If you’ve been following my Canada POTA activations and field reports, you’ll get an idea where we traveled and a small sampling of the many amazing parks Canada has to offer.

We started off our trip in Ottawa where we spent four days.

Only moments after arriving at our hotel that first day, Vince (VE6LK) made time in his schedule to administer my Canadian Basic exam remotely. That evening–despite being a bit bleary eyed after a fairly long day of driving–I passed my Basic with Honours. (I’m still chuffed about that!)

By the next morning, I already had the callsign I requested: VY2SW. My mailing address in Canada is in Prince Edward Island hence the VY2 call. Since essentially every new call in Canada is a vanity call, I chose the suffix SW to reflect my US call. PEI is one of the few provinces where as a Basic license holder you can request a 2×2 call.

My first activation in Canada was at Hog’s Back Conservation Reserve.  I had the good fortune of meeting up with Andrew, one of my subscribers, at the park. It was great getting to know him–what a nice fellow–and to start off a series of activations in Canada on the right foot.

St-Anne River in Saint-Ferréol-les-Neiges

After leaving Ottawa, we made our way to Saint-Ferréol-les-Neiges, Québec where we’d reserved a condo/townhome for 6 weeks. That served as our home base as we traveled around Québec City, Saguenay, the Charlevoix region, and the North Shore of the St-Lawrence.

At our local farmer’s market in Saint-Ferréol-les-Neiges, I especially loved the VW campervan bookstore.

I noted in many field reports how surprised I was to discover that a number of popular parks were still ATNOs (All-Time New Ones) in the POTA network. Then again, POTA hasn’t been in Canada as long as other similar programs like WWFF and SOTA.

Many of the POTA activations I made in Canada were in urban parks–especially the ones in/around Québec City. These activations took me outside of my comfort zone; I’m used to activating state and national parks back home that are expansive and largely in rural areas.

Continue reading Biplanes, Canoes, Callsigns, and POTA: Looking back on our summer in Canada and final field report from Québec →

Field Reports, Morse Code, News, Portable, POTA, QRP, SSB

Fighting mozzies and logging POTA hunters at Cap Tourmente

22 Comments

One of our favorite national parks in the Côte-de-Beaupré region of Québec, Canada is Cap Tourmente National Wildlife Area.

When my family spends the summer in Québec we typically visit it several times, especially since it’s never far from where we stay.

Thing is, each entry into Cap Tourmente costs about $20 or so (unless we purchase an annual pass), but it’s worth it for the hikes, and the scenery. We also like supporting parks with our entry fee.

For a POTA activation–? I don’t need access to the main park, especially if the family isn’t with me. I did a little research and found a spot within the NWA on the “free” side of the park gates.

The spot is a basically a wildlife viewing area with a small grass road that is flanked by marsh land near the town of Saint-Joachim.

Of course…

Marsh Land = Mozzies

Before heading to Cap Tourmente on Monday, June 27, 2022, I sprayed a “healthy” dose of insect repellent on my clothing. Having been to this spot several times in the past, I knew what awaited me: mosquitos. Lots of them.

We have mosquitos back home in the mountains of North Carolina, of course, but not in the quantities you find in marshy areas along the north shore of the St-Lawrence.

That Monday, though, it was very gusty. In the morning we had heavy rains, then a front pushed that through in the early afternoon opening up clear skies and very gusty winds. Mosquitos don’t do well in the wind, so my hope was the wind would offer an extra layer of protection.

Spoiler alert: The winds did help to some degree, but Canadian mosquitoes are heartier than our Carolina varieties.

Cap Tourmente National Wildlife Area (VE-0012)

I had been on the air earlier in the day and conditions were truly in the dumps–at least, at my latitude. I knew it wouldn’t be a quick activation, so I allowed myself extra time to complete the activation.

On the 10 minute drive to the site, I decided to pair the Elecraft KX2 with the TufetIn 9:1 random wire antenna that I configured with a 31′ radiator and a 17′ counterpoise. I found this combo very effective in the past and I love the frequency agility of random wire antennas especially when the bands are rough and it becomes a game of band hopping to see what portions might be open. Continue reading Fighting mozzies and logging POTA hunters at Cap Tourmente →